Maldives defence minister visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 October 2011, 05:04 GMT]Maldivian Defence Minister, Thalhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaanu, visited Sri Lanka’s occupying Army in the country of Eezham Tamils in Jaffna on Wednesday. His visit follows Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed’s unhindered support to genocidal Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa in shielding the latter from international war crimes investigation. The ‘hundred per cent Islamic country’ Maldives in recent times has entered into a number of agreements with Israel, the secret protocols of which are yet to be known to the public. However, the new friendship and the lease of one of the islands to Israel for ‘agricultural development’ are much talked about in Maldives. The support of US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake to Nasheed’s Maldives in the international organisations is not without reason, political observers say.

The Maldivian Defence Minister, received at the Palaali Airport by the occupying SL military’s Brigadier Piyal wikramaratne, was first briefed at the SL military’s Headquarters Auditorium.

Later, he was taken around Jaffna to showcase the military’s ‘development’ work such as the 100 houses built ‘within 8 days’ at Keerimalai and a three storied building being constructed for Mahajana College, Thellippazhai, with the financial assistance of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, according to SL military news.

He also visited the Dutch Fort where Rajapaksa plans building a presidential mansion, the Public Library and Kurunakar Jetty, along with the SL military.

Maldivian President Nasheed claims that his government is an elected democracy. But his Defence Minister’s visit to Jaffna was like a military to military visit and not like the visit of a minister of a civilian government. Tamils are hurt by the gesture, news sources in Jaffna said.

Nasheed’s predecessor Gayoom’s guided democracy was strictly neutral in foreign and military relations.

Within month’s of Nasheed coming to power by changing the political system with Western help, his government sent a military delegation, along with the US, the UK, Japan, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to Vanni, to give moral boost to Colombo’s genocidal war at its height.